


The Consequences of Midnight Makeouts

by Faequeen40



Series: Consequences and Revelations [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya is the best friend ever, Angst, F/M, Hickies, Humor, Marichat, Reveal Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-26
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-03 10:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5287604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faequeen40/pseuds/Faequeen40
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette has a very distinctive hickey and it seems like the universe is out to get her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Spots and Dots and Kitty Cat Paws

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so they are definitely aged up a bit in this fic. They are in their terminale year so I figured that would be a believable time for this to happen.  
> I did kinda use my own experience from high school with regards to the locker rooms and dodgeball but come on. I feel like we've all played dodgeball at one point and our favorite dynamic duo would be ridiculously good at it.

A paw print.

She had a hickey in the shape of a _paw print_.

Marinette dropped her shirt with a groan, dragging one hand down the side of her face. At least it was on her hip rather than somewhere obvious like her neck…

She was still gonna kill him.

The bottom of the paw print peeked out of the bottom of her sleep shirt, taunting her in the early morning. Marinette cast a pleading glance in Tikki’s direction before sliding the shirt up again, frowning at the dark red shape.

“He is in so much trouble when I see him again.” Marinette promised, the tiny fairy giggling at her predicament.

“Its okay, Marinette. At least it’s somewhere you can hide it!” Tikki said soothingly, zipping around and trying hard not to giggle at the mark.

It was far from the first mark to come from the midnight liaisons between Marinette and Chat Noir but it was certainly the only mark to make a _statement_.

If Tikki didn’t know any better, she would think that Chat wanted other people to know exactly who Marinette had been distracted by.

Who was she kidding?

That sounded exactly like something a Black Cat would get up to.

Marinette frowned at the very poorly disguised giggles coming from her kwami before turning a slightly satisfied eye to the mark, the memory of its origin making a flush come to her face.

A shrill alarm pulled her from thoughts of warm kisses and a purring voice in her ear and she nearly stumbled over herself in panic.

“I’m gonna be late!!” Marinette shrieked, running around her room, shedding her sleep clothes in a flurry and pulling on her everyday outfit with an air of urgency.

Tikki patiently watched her charge as she scrambled about the room, helpfully pushing things to Marinette when she couldn’t find them and letting the girl distract herself from her earlier musings.

The kwami prepared herself for another long day in a bag when she chanced a look at the calendar, her eyes going wide at the classes Marinette had for the day.

“Marinette!”

“Not now, Tikki! We gotta run!” Marinette rushed, carefully scooping the kwami into her bag and bounding down the stairs from her attic room.

She paused for just a moment to wish her parents a good day before clambering through the bakery with only a small incident. The box of cookies didn’t even hit the floor before she had caught them and returned them to their previous place on the counter.

Marinette took off like a shot towards the school, arriving just in time to see Adrien disappear before the school doors, a slightly besotted sigh escaping her.

She stared after his retreating back guiltily, the slightly tender paw print on her hip making her stomach churn unpleasantly. Buried in her thoughts, she didn’t even notice Alya creep up beside her, hands poised to poke her in the sides.

A shriek escaped her when Alya’s manicured nails met her hips, skating dangerously close to the mark on her side that was causing her so much consternation.

“Alya!” Marinette hissed, “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

The redhead in question was too busy doubled over in laughter to be properly intimidated by Marinette’s pout so the shorter girl sighed in defeat.

“Girl, you have it so bad, I don’t think I can help you. Why don’t you just ask him out? The worst he can say is no.”

“Alya, I can’t. What if he laughs at me?” Marinette mumbled, looking back down the hallway Adrien had disappeared to, “I don’t think I could take it. Besides, I have to wait for the right time.”

“Marinette, the way you’re going, the right time is gonna pass you right by.” Alya said gently, putting a comforting hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

Hanging her head in a combination of defeat and guilt, Marinette let Alya guide her into the building. The redhead chattered at her the whole way to their classroom, finally gaining a quiet giggle as they made it to their seats.

Once there, Marinette spared a single longing glance to the back of Adrien’s golden head, before pulling her materials from her back, resolved to not let his perfect hair distract her for once.

Suffice to say, she didn’t succeed.

However, the humdrum of the day, Alya’s comforting presence and Adrien’s glorious hair did manage to make her forget all about the paw print that sat teasingly on the skin of her hip.

She breezed through her lunch with Alya, the two of them returning to the bakery to eat. While they relaxed on Marinette’s terrace, Alya renewed her assault from earlier.

“You know we all go off to university next year.” She started, setting her sandwich down on her plate, “I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life regretting the fact that you never said anything. You’ve loved him from afar for so long and it kills me to see you still pining.”

Startled by her friend’s suddenly seriously demeanor, Marinette dropped her shoulders with a sigh. “I want to. I want to say something to him so badly, Alya. But every time I do, it feels like something is holding me back. I still can barely talk in front of him. What if I can never speak correctly? How do you respond to that?”

Alya hummed for a second, chewing thoughtfully. “I don’t know. But I do know that something has to give. You’ve been weirder than normal around him for a while now. Is there something else going on that I don’t know about?”

Marinette immediately fought down her memories of the night before, the paw print on her hip almost seeming to throb as she suddenly remembered its existence. “N-no. I just don’t know what to say and like you said earlier. We’re all going off to university next year. My time with him is running out and I don’t know what to do.”

“No worries, girl.” Alya smirked, “I’m sure that we’ll figure something out. Besides, if you had found someone other than Adrien to get _distracted_ with, I’m sure you’d tell me.”

A call from below saved Marinette from attempting to answer Alya’s leading statement and/or accidentally revealing her midnight makeouts. With far more enthusiasm that she actually felt, Marinette led the way out of the bakery, snagging a few cookies to smuggle to Tikki later.

They returned to the classroom for Physics when Alya smacked her hand to forehead with a groan. “I totally forgot that we have Gym today! And I forgot my deodorant at home! Is yours still in your locker? I really don’t want to smell awful all day.”

Marinette froze, one hand on her chair, as Alya’s words clicked.

Gym.

Changing.

_Oh no…._

“Marinette?” Alya tried again, waving her hand in front of Marinette’s face, “Come on girl, Adrien’s not even in here yet.”

“Oh, ha ha, yeah o-of course, I still have mine in my locker. It’s no problem.” She said shrilly, giggling self-consciously when a few of her classmates turned at her outburst.

She settled into her chair, pressing her elbows to her sides and trying to will herself out of existence. Unfortunately the universe seemed to ignore her and she remained in her seat.

The class seemed to fly by with uncharacteristic speed and she found herself hesitating in front of the girl’s locker room door. She peered into her purse, looking to Tikki for guidance.

“What am I supposed to do?!” She hissed, “If anybody sees it, they’ll be all over me. I don’t even know how I’d begin to explain it!”

“You could change really fast!” The kwami suggested, “If you are in and out before anyone can notice, you’ll be in the clear! Or you could just tell people about your relationship with Chat.”

“No.” Marinette said firmly, dismissing the second option immediately, “I wouldn’t even know what to say.”

“Well, whatever you’re gonna do, you should do quickly, everyone’s coming!”

Marinette looked over her shoulder quickly, noting the impending arrival of her classmates, before rushing through the door in front of her. She sprinted to her locker, Tikki’s luck helping her to put her combination in on the first try.

She shrugged out of her shirt and into her gym shirt in record time, pulling the fabric over her mark just as Alya walked through the door.

“Eager aren’t you?” The taller girl chuckled, “I thought you hated dodgeball.”

Marinette just laughed awkwardly as she continued to change, carefully keeping the damning evidence on her hip covered. “Maybe today will be better.”

“We’re playing with the boys today, so you might be right.” Alya winked, cackling when Marinette flushed again.

Chloe scoffed from the corner, her designer gym clothes perfectly pressed. “Don’t get excited. They’ll just get us all out so they can go at each other. Well, except Adrien. I’ll make sure to get him out so we can sit together.”

“I seriously doubt you could get Adrien out, Chloe.” Alya drawled, “You’ve never so much as touched a dodgeball in the entire time we’ve ever gone to school together.”

“And you’ve made sure to watch me all these years? Maybe you’re the one with an obsession.” Chloe replied, inspecting her nails with a bored expression.

Alya made to respond once again but Marinette put one hand on her shoulder, shaking her head. “It’s not worth it Alya. Who knows, you might get lucky and she’ll be on an opposite team from you.”

“That would make my life.” Alya said bitterly, leading the way into the open courtyard where the boys from their class had already gathered.

It only took a bit longer before the rest of the girls emerged from the locker room and the teacher appeared. They were quickly split into teams, the teacher picking in an effort to keep the skill levels between the teams relatively equal.

They set up on opposite ends of the court while the teacher set the balls on the center line. Marinette had to suppress a squeal when she saw that Adrien had ended up on her team. She cast Alya an encouraging look, as the redhead was currently sulking over being put on the same team as Chloe.

“Don’t hold back!” Kim challenged from his side of the court, cracking his knuckles.

“I didn’t know you wanted to lose so fast.” Adrien called back, a cocky smirk looking strangely familiar on his face.

“Bring it, Agreste!”

The teacher blew the whistle, breaking the building tension in the room like a sledgehammer.

Marinette stood transfixed as the boys dove for the center line, Adrien weaving through them like a golden wind.

They met in the middle like chaos. The red balls flew like bullets and it wasn’t until one flew past Marinette’s face that she realized that she was just standing there, a perfect target for the other team.

Adrien forgotten-momentarily-, Marinette leapt into action, her nights as Ladybug helping her effortlessly dodge through the crossfire.

When she finally managed to get her hands on a ball, she threw it as hard as she could, freezing after it zipped past Kim’s face, landing with the loudest smack she had ever heard against the far wall.

Kim’s eyes narrowed and Marinette let out the breath she was holding shakily.

That could have been bad.

She looked around, panicking when she saw that her team had dwindled to only three players.

Shots started to come at her almost relentlessly after Max was finally dropped, Alya’s shouts of encouragement from the sidelines blending into the background.

She paused for breath against the wall, seeing blond hair and an incoming shot and she just _reacted_.

Marinette tackled Adrien out of the way of Kim’s shot and they tumbled across the courtyard floor, rolling to a stop with Adrien on top of her.

Face immediately effused with red, Marinette had to bite back a squeak as she realized that she had just tackled _Adrien_ out of the way of a dodgeball after thinking he was _Chat_.  


He stared down at her in shock before giving her a sheepish smile. She tried to return it but it was difficult when she could feel the heat of his hand next to her hip.

In fact, it felt like he was basically touching her skin.

Her eyes widened and she looked down in panic, seeing Chat’s mark on full display. She flicked her eyes back up to see that he had followed the path her eyes had gone before.

Adrien stared for a moment before he returned his gaze to hers, the ghost of a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth and a peculiar light burning in his emerald gaze.

It looked so familiar that she had to bite back a gasp, recent memories deepening her flush.

He opened his mouth to say something when a red ball collided solidly with his ribs and he rolled off of her.

“Come on, Agreste! Did you really get so distracted by her hickey?” Kim taunted, “Jealous that Marinette has more game than you?”

Marinette looked between the two boys, completely baffled by the semi smug smirk on Adrien’s face and the taunting look on Kim’s face.

She was pulling herself to her feet- to intervene, to defend herself, _to do something_ \- when a ball hit her in the center of her chest, a giggling Sabrina on the other side of it.

The teacher blew the whistle loudly, proclaiming an end to the game and sending the two groups to change before their next class.

Walking in a daze, Marinette didn’t even realize that she had made it back to the locker room until Alya had poked her in the dead center of the paw print.

She jumped back from the contact, looking into the suspicious eyes of her best friend. “A paw print?” The taller girl questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I-I, um, A-Alya this is what it l-looks like…” Marinette stuttered.

“Is this why you haven’t been able to even talk at Adrien?” Alya said quietly, “How long have you been banging Chat Noir?”

Marinette sputtered in shock, waving her hands in an effort to get her best friend to stop talking. “I am NOT banging Chat Noir.”

“Oh? Then who else could be leaving paw print hickies on your hips?” Alya smirked, “I might have to tell him that someone is stealing his signature.”

“Okay, so Chat did leave this but I’m not sleeping with him.” Marinette said frantically, a bit relieved to finally have someone talk to but intent on nipping that rumor before it could start.

At her statement, Rose and Juleka peeked around the wall of lockers. “You must be pretty far along in a relationship for him to be giving you marks like that.”

Burying her head in her hands, Marinette sat heavily on the bench and groaned. “Why is everyone so interested in this?”

“We were all pretty sure that you were in love with Adrien.” Rose said dreamily, “But if you’re dating a superhero, that’s even better. It’s so romantic.”

Marinette chanced a glance at Alya and immediately quailed under her spectacled gaze.

She knew that look.

It was a look that declared that they would be talking later. A look that demanded absolutely no excuses.

She was so doomed.

The final class of the day passed in a blur. She was vaguely aware of Alya and Nino whispering back and forth between each other, scattered words making their way to her ears.

She heard “scratches” and “Adrien’s back” that made her take notice but she couldn’t hear anything else that might enlighten her on the situation.

The boy in question had left early for a photoshoot and she was left to stare at his empty seat sadly. When the class finally ended she looked up at Alya and let the redheaded girl lead her from the school and back to the bakery.

Marinette sat heavily on her lounge, clutching a beaded pillow to her chest before she looked up at her best friend. Alya sat in front of her, eyes piercing. “Okay, spill.”

“What’s there to say? That I’ve been fooling around with a protector of Paris when I’m in love with Adrien? That I can barely look him in the face because I’ve got a hickey on my hip that pretty much declares what I’ve been up to? I don’t know what to do Alya. I think I love them both.” Marinette rushed, burying her face in her hands and letting her indecision and guilt from the past few weeks wash over her.

Alya sighed heavily, pulling Marinette forward into her arms and rubbing a comforting hand across her back. “I can’t tell you what to do. And I’ve been a bit suspicious for a while now, especially after I got a video of Chat Noir leaving your terrace a few weeks ago. But this isn’t fair to you and it isn’t fair to them either. You’re letting yourself getting pulled in too many directions at once and it’s only going to get you hurt. And I love you too much to watch you do that to yourself.”

Marinette nodded in Alya’s grasp, winding her arms around her best friend and letting her soothe the stress away.

“Of course, having said that, I cannot deny my curiosity. What’s it like?” Alya said quietly, an almost shy note to her voice.

“What’s what like?”

“Kissing a superhero.”

“It’s not any different than kissing a regular person. He is still a person under his mask.” Marinette said with a sigh, “A mildly infuriating person sometimes, but a regular person.”

“That’s boring.” Alya teased, poking Marinette in the shoulder, “You should totally yell at him the next time you see him though. Marking you up like he’s got some kinda claim. I’ll yell at him for if you want.”

“Believe me, he’s getting an earful.” Marinette chuckled, letting herself fall back into a better mood.

Alya stayed for a while longer, trying to tease any amount of details that she could. Marinette laughed at her antics and finally saw her off with a box of cookies.

Once her room had been cleared, Tikki zipped from her hiding place in Marinette’s purse and settled gently on Marinette’s shoulder. “Alya is right you know. You have so much love in you but you’re being pulled in all directions.”

“But what should I do Tikki? Decide between them? Chat is my partner, I could never hurt him. But Adrien, I’ve loved him for so long. I don’t think I could give up on him.” Marinette said miserably, pulling out her homework to work on before she left for patrol.

“Maybe they’re the same person. Wouldn’t that be lucky?” Tikki chirped, pressing her head to Marinette’s chin.

“Not even Ladybug’s that lucky, Tikki.”


	2. Cat Scratch Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien contemplates life and somehow karma comes around.

Adrien woke up that morning feeling incredibly refreshed and determined. He stretched his arms above his head, staring dreamily at the ceiling.

Last night was one of the best nights of his life. Easily.

He had suited up and visited Marinette’s terrace, a place he had come to frequently over the last few weeks. Really ever since the Primadonna incident.

At first it had been curiosity.

He was so _sure_ that he had heard her talking her to something in her purse, talking about how she had rescued him. How embarrassed she was.

Hence the visit to Marinette’s terrace.

The first night, despite how much he wanted to adhere to Ladybug’s insistence on keeping their identities secret, he had been intent on getting right to the point and asking if she was Ladybug, the light of his life. 

His Lady.

But as soon as he had gotten there, all thoughts of that particular strategy had abandoned him in the way the moonlight danced off her hair.

She spoke to him so confidently, a complete change from the Marinette he was used to seeing on a day to day basis. It shocked him into silence and he found himself simply listening as she spoke to him.

There was something about her that kept drawing him back. Initially, it was a need to follow through on his previous plan, to question her and maybe finally get to the bottom of the mystery that had plagued him for so many years, but after only a few nights he went to learn about her, to listen to her voice and watch the way the stars played off her eyes.

She was a sassy spitfire and he was enthralled. Her words dropped him into laughter and he found himself cracking any kind of joke that could to get her to laugh back at him. Her warmth settled in his soul and he reveled in it.

Marinette felt like home.

It didn’t take long for them to come together.

He came across her one night, huddled up in a blanket and staring forlornly at a cup of tea caught between her tiny hands. She had given him only a small glance with her sad eyes and he was lost.

Asking to kiss her had seemed like the only option at that point.

Anything to combat that sadness in her eyes.

Their first kiss had been weeks ago. Ever since then, Adrien had been on cloud nine, particularly after the last night that they had shared. Of course, he was starting to get desperate.

They were running out of time to see each other every day and it tore him up. He had to say something, do something.

He wanted nothing more than to reveal himself to her and hope against all odds that she was indeed the Lady that he continued to pine for.

Adrien had nearly lost himself in memories of last night, a satisfied smirk twisting his lips when he recalled the simply genius mark he had managed to leave on her hip when Plagg quite literally landed on his face, glowing green eyes sparkling with mischief.

“If you’re done reliving your memories, I’m hungry.” The kwami complained, refusing to look repentant as Adrien plucked him up by the scruff of his neck and set him on the bed.

“You’re always hungry.” Adrien chuckled, pulling himself from the warmth of his covers and slinging his legs over the side.

He had just made it to his feet when he heard Plagg whistle, the strangeness of the noise making him turn back to the tiny kwami. “What was that for?”

“I think your princess is more of a cat than we give her credit for.” Plagg grinned, drawling the sentence as suggestively as possible.

“What are you talking about?” Adrien sighed, flicking his eyes to the clock as reference.

His interest in Plagg’s answer immediately disappeared when he saw the innocently blinking numbers on his bedside table. Adrien launched into a panic when he heard a very curt knock at his door.

“You’ve overslept, Adrien.” Nathalie said primly, “The car is waiting outside for you so please hurry. Also, you will be leaving class early for the spring photoshoot this afternoon.”

Swearing under his breath, Adrien threw on an outfit, stopping in front of a mirror to attempt to tame his Chat-like hair. After enlisting the help of a comb and a bit of water, he deemed himself presentable and ran from the room, snagging a quick sandwich and a few cubes of cheese before diving for the car, conscious of the very unimpressed gaze of his driver.

He looked out the window with a happy sigh, gearing up for another day where he might get to see Marinette again.

Maybe today he’d be able to say something instead of freezing up and staring.

With that hopeful thought in mind, he waited outside the school for a long as he was able, trying to catch any glimpse he could of her. The bell made his shoulders drop in defeat and he walked through the doors of the school, unconscious of the blue eyes trained on his back.

He made his way to the semi full classroom, giving Nino a wide smile as he took his seat. “Hey bro! What’s up? You usually don’t cut it so close.” Nino teased, giving Adrien a light punch to the arm.

“I overslept.”

“You needed it.” Nino said happily, “I’m glad you’re sleeping more.”

“Sorry to worry you, Nino.” Adrien said earnestly, his attention dividing when Marinette walked through the door, a giggle escaping her at something that Alya had said.

He looked after her dreamily, a little put out that she didn’t even look in his direction. A snicker to his left made him jump and he turned to see Nino giving him a knowing glance. “Seriously bro, just talk to her. I don’t think she’s gonna turn you down.”

Adrien sputtered at Nino’s words, heat effusing his ears and up the back of his neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Nino smirked and leaned back in his chair, an incredulous eyebrow raised. “Whatever bro. But if that’s the case, you really should stop staring. Some people think it’s creepy.”

Embarrassed, Adrien dropped his head into his arms, vaguely aware of the girl behind him.

It was going to be a very long day.

As the class dragged on, Adrien resolved to focus on the lecture at last and managed to lose himself in the theory being discussed.

Before he was aware of it, the teacher was dismissing them for lunch. He turned in his seat, hoping to catch Marinette’s eye but she was already being dragged out the door by Alya.

He huffed in disappointment, looking after Alya with a disgruntled expression. That girl was seriously not doing him any favors.

“Come on, lover boy.” Nino guffawed, “You can tell me all about it over lunch.”

“Tell you about what?”

“Oh you know. Our very cute resident fashion designer.” Nino said slyly, pulling his bag onto his shoulder.

Adrien had to fight down a flush at Nino’s words, a brief flash of jealousy grasping him at the adjective Nino used before he shook it off. Pretty much everyone in their class, sans Chloe and Sabrina, thought Marinette was a little cute.

Heaving a colossal sigh, he gave Nino a wide smile and put up his hands in defeat. “Fine, Nino. You win.”

“I learned from the best.” The young DJ grinned, putting one hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

As soon as Nino made contact, Adrien flinched, a hiss making its way between his teeth. “Whoa, Adrien. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just a little sore today.” Adrien fibbed, rapidly wracking his brain for any reason why his shoulders might hurt.

Upon finding none that would seem plausible, he shrugged and gave Nino a reassuring smile, following his friend from the room and out to the waiting car.

He listened to Nino chatter about the Ladyblog work he had been doing with Alya, the scenery of Paris passing them by as they made it to their favorite café, a little hole in the wall that served one of the best sandwiches that Adrien had ever had.

Once they had settled into their usual table, Nino fixed him with a piercing gaze that was a little too reminiscent of Alya for Adrien’s comfort. “So. Marinette? How long have you had a crush on her?”

Adrien put his sandwich down slowly, mulling over how to answer without giving away his moonlights as Chat. If he was right and Marinette was Ladybug, then he’d been in love with her for years. But if he was wrong…

He’d been in love with two people for a few months.

His indecisive thoughts must have started to show on his face because Nino sighed and leaned back. “Maybe that was little too direct. Talk to me bro. Tell me the woes of your heart.”

Adrien fixed him with a sharp glance, trying to decipher Nino’s sudden interest. “There really isn’t too much to talk about, Nino. I’m pretty sure that I do like Marinette but it’s complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

“Well, uh, you see…I’m…” Adrien tried, realizing that there really wasn’t any way to explain, “Just complicated.”

“Fair enough bro. But we’ll all be out on our own soon enough. If you’re going to do something, I’d really suggest that you get on it. Whatever happens, I’ve got your back.”

Nino nodded at him, the gesture letting Adrien drop the subject. With a nonchalant shrug, Nino immediately started in on another path of conversation and soon the two boys were eagerly debating the merits of the newest games on the market.

Once their lunch had ended and they were once again relaxing in their seats, Nino leaned over to him. “So what kind of crazy schedule do you have lined up for today?”

“Thankfully nothing too huge. I do have to miss out on our last class for a photoshoot for the spring line but I don’t think that it will take too long. Why? What’s up?” Adrien rattled off, looking at his best friend curiously.

“I was wondering if you wanted to come over to play the new Fallout but we could probably save that for this weekend if you’re free. You and I both know that those photoshoots of yours can literally go on forever.” Nino joked, leaning back in his chair.

“They’re not that bad.” Adrien said with a small smile, “Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.”

“I’ll leave that stuff to you, bro. The DJ booth is my calling.”

“Absolutely.” Adrien agreed, turning in his seat just a bit to catch a glimpse of Marinette.

His smile dimmed when he saw how distraught she looked, elbows clenched to her sides tightly. She avoided his eyes resolutely and he felt his shoulders drop in disappointment.

This was going to be so much harder than he thought.

Nino caught his gaze as he turned and gave him a knowing look before directing his attention to the lecture at hand.

Adrien found it hard to concentrate, his worry about Marinette distracting him from his favorite subject. The class seemed to crawl by as he poured over his thoughts, taking notes on autopilot, small doodles of ladybugs and smiley faces with pigtails filling the margin of his notebook.

He stayed in his seat when the class was dismissed, watching as Marinette sped past him.

What was he doing wrong?

She had been avoiding him for weeks, barely able to keep eye contact let alone try to hold a conversation.

Did he offend her? Was she tired of humoring him?

Maybe he was expecting a little too much attention. After all, it wasn’t _Adrien_ that visited her nightly.

It was _Chat_.

He’d never been so jealous of himself.

A tired sigh escaped him and he followed the rest of the class out of their room, down the stairs and trailed into the boys’ locker room. Listlessly, he made his way to the locker he stored his stuff in, raising a shoulder in response to Nino’s worried look.

“Cheer up, Adrien.” Nino said brightly, “We’re playing dodgeball today. You and Kim will finally get a chance to resolve that draw from last year.”

Adrien chuckled at the memory of that game, changing quickly into the spare set of clothes he kept on hand for their gym class, facing Nino as the other boy bragged of how he would personally get Kim out.

The boy in question peeked around the block of lockers, seemingly drawn by Nino’s voice. “As if, Nino. Stick to the DJ table, you certainly rule the field up there. However, this is definitely my turf. And as for you Adrien, let’s have a good game, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He reached over and bumped Kim’s fist with his own, feeling a flash of excitement at the upcoming challenge. With a mental shrug, he pushed off his disappointment over Marinette and stretched his arms above his head, ignoring the resulting sting in his shoulders.

The boys traipsed out of their locker room, playfully pushing one another and laughing amongst themselves. The teacher waved them over to the center of the courtyard, instructing them to wait patiently until the girls made their appearance. Only a few minutes passed until the girls started to file out, Marinette and Alya leading the small group.

Adrien allowed himself a single longing glance before turning his attention back to the teacher and listening carefully as the teams were assigned.

He suppressed a sigh of relief when the teacher assigned Chloe to the opposite team, moving into a favorable position while the balls were set up.

“Don’t hold back!” Kim challenged, facing Adrien.

Adrien allowed a Chat-like smirk to spread over his face, adrenaline over the coming challenge making him antsy. “I didn’t know you wanted to lose so fast.” He returned, barely suppressing a purr.

“Bring it Agreste!”

The whistle blew, shattering the building tension and launching Adrien into action. He wove between the other members of his team, narrowly beating Alix to a ball and swiftly getting her out right at the line.

He scrambled back from the line after getting Alix out, suppressing a frown as Kim managed to get both Ivan and Mylene out before directing his attention back to Adrien.

Channeling Chat, he danced out of the way, easily avoiding the strikes from the other team and scooping up the projectiles as they rolled past his feet, getting Chloe, Alya and Rose out in quick succession.

He was moving to scoop up yet another of the red balls when one flew past him with incredible speed, narrowly missing Kim’s face and smacking against the wall hard enough to silence the room.

Looking back incredulously, his eyes fell upon Marinette, her laser focused expression quickly morphing into one of badly disguised relief.

In that instant, she had looked identical to Ladybug. The strength of her throw, the intensity in her eyes. The clues were laying themselves out in front of him but he was hesitant to be sure.

What if he was seeing these things in Marinette because he was looking for them? He wanted them to be the same person so badly.

He had to tell her.

Adrien didn’t see the ball coming until it would be too late to dodge. He steeled himself for the hit when he was suddenly tackled, a small body throwing him out of the way and rolling them across the hard ground of the courtyard.

After a few rolls, he ended up on top, staring down at his savior. Marinette looked up at him, her ocean blue eyes wide with shock. He felt a similar expression on his own face before he smiled at her sheepishly, their position reminding him strongly of the fight with Stormy Weather.

She tried to return his smile but instead her eyes flicked down at where his hand rested against the concrete, supporting his weight so he didn’t crush her slight form. Her expression became panicked and he followed the path that her eyes had taken, noticing that her shirt had ridden up when she tackled him, his mark from last night a bright blossom on the skin of her hip.

Satisfaction curled wickedly in his chest, a hint of possessiveness starting to claw its way up before he tamped it down ruthlessly.

She wasn’t _his_.

Even if he really wanted her to be.

Something must have shown on his face because her flush deepened, a half strangled gasp pulling itself from her lips.

The sound buried itself in his brain, determination overwhelming his lingering shyness. He had to say something, now while he could borrow a little of Chat’s courage.

Now while she was looking at him like that.

Oh god, he _wanted_ to kiss her.

He opened his mouth to say something, a purring sentence ready to roll off his tongue, guaranteed to make that gorgeous flush of her richer and help her put a few clues together until he could tell her in private.

Adrien opened his mouth to speak and immediately lost the words to a dodgeball hitting his ribs, causing him to roll off Marinette and across the floor, his pride far more bruised than his ribcage.

Jumping to his feet, he looked up to see Kim grinning at him, one dodgeball held tightly in his hands. “Come on Agreste! Did you really get so distracted by her hickey?” He drawled, “Jealous that Marinette has more game than you?”

Chat’s smirk curled over his face before he could stop it, the memory of giving that particular hickey more than eliminating any anger Kim’s comment could have caused.

Marinette stumbling to her feet gave him pause and he completely snapped out of it when Sabrina hit her in the chest with a ball, the teacher’s whistle declaring an end to the game.

He tried to snag her shoulder but he caught Alya’s eye and watched her shake her head, registering the meaning behind that numbly. He let his hand fall back to his side before turning back to Kim.

“Did you really have to call her out like that? Maybe she was trying to hide it.” He said testily, his temper dying down a bit at the genuinely guilty look on Kim’s face.

“Yeah, that wasn’t very cool. I’ll apologize.” Kim replied, rubbing the back of his neck, “No one would have really noticed if I hadn’t said anything.”

Nino trotted over to them as Kim started to make his way back to the locker rooms, a questioning look on his face. “Dude, what was that all about? Marinette has a hickey?”

“Uh, yeah.” Adrien replied, vaguely conscious of a flush starting at the tips of his ears.

“Why are you blushing, bro? It’s not like you put it there.” Nino snorted, before waggling his eyebrows at his best friend, “Unless you have something to tell me.”

“No!” Adrien flailed, expression immediately flashing through a hundred different emotions and arms waving to convince Nino of his point.

“It’s cool. You two can barely speak at each other most days.”

Nino punctuated his sentence with a chuckle, moving towards the locker room while Adrien considered his words.

“Yeah.”

Shoulders slumped, Adrien followed Nino into the locker room, shuffling over to his locker and shrugging his shirt off and getting ready to change before his shoot.

A sharp whistle caught his attention and he froze, remembering Plagg’s reaction this morning.

“Adrien what happened to your back?”

Turning slowly, he met Nino’s widened eyes, his confusion evident. “What are you talking about?”

“You have scratches all down your back. Like really bad on your shoulders. No wonder your shoulders were hurting. Did you seriously not notice?” Nino said incredulously, pushing him towards the mirror on the wall.

Peering over his shoulder, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes widened as he looked over the faint red lines marking gentle curves over his shoulder blades and the sharp crescents that had just barely broken the skin.

His face immediately flushed as he remembered the previous night, the scoring, stinging sensation of Marinette’s nails against his back only serving to drive him to kiss her harder. He met Nino’s curious eyes through his reflection in the mirror and turned back to him, a nervous smile coming to his face.

“I must’ve done something while I was sleeping. You know me, I’m a very active sleeper.”

Nino’s face immediately shifted into a flat, deadpan expression and he looked over his glasses at Adrien before giving him a shrug. “Maybe you’re right. But those look awful like the kind of scratches you get from someone’s fingernails.”

If possible, Adrien’s flush deepened into a darker red and he stumbled over to his locker, pretending to check his phone. “Oh would you look at that! Nathalie sent the car around early! I’ll see you around Nino!”

He scrambled into his clothes, leaving the locker room far more rumpled than he would typically allow and racing to an abandoned area outside the school before opening his bag to glare at his kwami.

“Plagg! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I did.” The tiny cat drawled, peeking open one brilliantly green eye to stare at him, “I did mention your princess being a bit more of a cat than we gave her credit for. I thought you were listening.”

“That isn’t telling me. That is being cryptic.” Adrien huffed, dragging a hand through his hair, “I thought the suit was supposed to protect me against scratches like that.”

“If I remember correctly, someone’s hands were under the suit.” Plagg smirked, his tail flicking in the space of Adrien’s bag, “Hard to protect from something like that.”

With a mortified look, Adrien shut the bag in Plagg’s laughing face, determined to look anywhere but at the dark bag.

The car pulling up was a blessing in disguise and he ran for it, ready for any kind of distraction to keep him from thinking about the scratches on his back and the girl responsible for them.

His unspoken prayer to the universe seemed to be answered as he was thrown into work as soon as he reached the location, a hair and makeup team swooping in to fix the rumpled mess he had made of himself following that fateful gym class.

The shoot seemed to drag on forever, the photographer never seemingly satisfied with his shots until he had at least three different angles. It was tiring but Adrien worked his way through it.

That is, until the last shots where he had one of the female models draped over his shoulders. From her angle she had a clear view down the back of his rather loose collar. Her badly concealed giggles made the tips of his ears burn.

“What are you laughing at?” He whispered, worried that something was off about his outfit.

“You should probably tell your girlfriend to trim her nails. Unless you like her marking you up like that.” The model chuckled, adjusting the back of his collar just slightly.

His face immediately flushed, making the photographer step back from his camera and sigh deeply. “If you could not turn him into a fire truck, Marie, I would be highly appreciative.”

“No promises, Hugo.” Marie grinned, smoothing down the front of her vest, “He’s too easy to embarrass if that’s all it took.”

Meanwhile, Adrien tried in vain to fight the blush. It was too easy for people to point out and it put him on edge.

Was it really so obvious what the scratches were from?

Was this what it was like for Marinette?

Oh god.

He was so apologizing when he saw her again.

Unable to tame the blush that flamed across Adrien’s face, the photographer finally gave up, playfully scolding Marie the whole time they were cleaning up the site of the shoot.

Adrien sighed and plodded over to where the car waited, letting it take him back to the cold manor that he lived in. With a brief hello to Nathalie, he ran up to his room, letting Plagg out of his bag and rushing over to the mirror.

He shrugged out of his shirt and turned his back to the reflective pane, sighing as he traced the worst of the scratches. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice these earlier. That’s so embarrassing.”

“I could only imagine how your princess felt.” Plagg said slyly, “Especially with the way her shirt got all pushed up when she rescued you from that dodgeball.”

“How did you even see that?”

“Do you honestly think I stay in your bag the whole time?”

“Oh my god, that’s why I keep finding random things in there.”

Plagg grinned widely, floating through the air, fluorescent green eyes mischievous. “Maybe. But I do get awful bored in there~”

“What do you want? My phone?”

“Only if you install Fruit Ninja.”

Adrien only rolled his eyes before pulling his shirt back on and settling down to do some homework before his patrol with Ladybug.

And then afterwards, he was determined to see Marinette again.

They had some things to discuss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been so overwhelmed by the positive reaction to this fic, you guys have no idea. Thank y'all for being awesome. XD


	3. Cat's Out of the Bag

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally everything comes to a head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe how much support this fic has gotten. You guys are awesome and I love all of you. This literally took me forever to write, what with finals and all that but finally its done and out on the internet.  
> Enjoy!

To say that the patrol that night was awkward was a gross understatement.

Ladybug studiously avoided his gaze and Chat found himself getting antsy. They only had a few more blocks to go before they would call it a night and he was itching to see Marinette again.

He wanted to talk to her, to finally, finally, get some of this mess inside his head sorted out.

Hesitantly, he glanced at the back of Ladybug’s head, eyes tracing over the carefully separated pigtails, a style so very similar to what Marinette wore. Maybe he could ask right now and save himself a little bit of time. Surely she would be willing to tell him if he was right, even if him finding out was an accident?

He took a deep breath to prepare himself and opened his mouth to speak, the words literally on the tip of his tongue…

When a scream pierced the air.

Heaving a sigh, he turned toward the scream, noticing the look of incredulity on his Lady’s face. “I think this is the first time we’ve actually caught an akuma while on patrol.” She hissed under her breath, flicking her gorgeous blue gaze in his direction.

He fought his grin for only a moment before letting his spread across his face. “I’d hate to say I told you so, My Lady but I think this cat was right.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes, a hint of wry amusement pulling at her lips, breaking through the weird mask she had worn around him this entire patrol. She pulled her yoyo from her side, a serious look overtaking the amusement he had brought out of her. “Right or wrong aside, we gotta go take care of that akuma.”

“Right behind you, My Lady.”

Chat allowed himself only a small moment of pride, a teensy tiny moment of soaring pride at the little smile he had pulled from her before he followed after her, glowing green eyes tracking her slim form across the rooftops.

Maybe he’d be able to catch her after they defeated this akuma.

He didn’t think his heart could take much more of this.

With a running start, he leapt from the building, landing with a roll on the next rooftop before continuing to bound after Ladybug, always keeping her in his periphery as he parkour-ed his way across the dimly illuminated rooftops of Paris.

They ran for blocks across the large city, small groups of panicked citizens in a hurry to evacuate the area where the scream had come from.

Chat pushed down some of his apprehension when he finally saw that whole buildings had been sliced in half, cleanly cut chunks of concrete littering the street. He alighted on the last solid building in the square, Ladybug landing gently at his side. He met her eyes briefly, noting the same emotions showcased in the gorgeous eyes he adored so much.

“We’ll need to be careful, Chat.” She warned, turning her gaze to the ruined square.

“Not to worry, My Lady. I shall be absolutely purrfectly careful.”

His smile dropped when the pun failed to wipe the serious look off her face and he followed her eyes to the man standing in the middle of all the debris.

“I’m serious, alley cat.” Ladybug said softly, her voice drifting to his enhanced hearing, “Something tells me we won’t be getting out of this unscathed.”

Chat nodded solemnly, pulling his baton from his back in preparation for the fight ahead of them. The akuma turned to face them, an oddly shining butcher knife dangling from his fist.

“I’d bet my bell that the akuma is in the knife.” Chat said, narrowing his eyes as the akuma began to run towards their building, swinging said knife in an arc at them.

To his surprise, an arc of silver energy jumped from the path of the knife, slicing through the building they stood upon like the softest butter. Chat and Ladybug leapt off the falling stone, making their way to the ground cautiously and coming up to surround the akuma.

“How nice of you to finally join me, Ladybug and Chat Noir!” The akuma grinned, giving them a sardonic bow, “I am the Slicer and I will have your Miraculous Stones!”

Chat mimed a hand talking behind the akuma, rolling his eyes at the speech that was basically old hat to the two of them by now. Ladybug smothered a giggle before taking a defensive stance and staring down the akuma in front of her. “I don’t think so.” She said confidently, her yoyo clutched in her hands.

In lieu of a response, the akumatized citizen lurched forward, bringing his knife down like he meant to cut her in half. She danced out of his way, his missed attack creating a deep furrow in the darkened street at their feet. Before she could lash out with her weapon, he continued after her, relentless in his pursuit.

Once or twice, she caught the offending object in the string of her yoyo, attempting to pull the knife from his hands and end this encounter early. Her efforts proved to be in vain as Slicer clutched his weapon with a white knuckled grip, only renewing his assault on her.

Chat only hesitated for an instant before racing after them and swinging his baton in between his Lady and the knife that was currently out for her head. A resounding clang rang out in the empty street and he winced at the vibrations that traveled down his baton.

Recovering quickly, he maneuvered between them and made a quick strike with the other end of his baton, aiming for the hand holding the knife. With a mocking laugh, the akuma jumped back, wildly swinging at the air between them. Long arcs of silver energy blasted at them, too close to dodge so Chat merely squared himself in front of Ladybug, fully prepared to block the blows he could and take the ones he couldn’t.

He wasn’t expecting her to toss him out of the way.

Chat tumbled across the courtyard, a feminine yelp following him. Rolling to his feet, he gaped at the huge cloud of dust that masked the place they had just been.

When there was no movement, his heart sank to his feet.

“LADYBUG!!!”

His breath came quicker as he stumbled into the dust cloud, looking for anything to reassure him that she didn’t just do what he think she did.

That she had managed to survive the flurry of blows.

But only silence answered him.

“No….no no no no no.” He gasped to himself, “Oh god, Marinette, no.”

A flash of red caught his eye when the dust began to clear and he lurched forward, falling his knees alongside the splash of crimson on a piece of stone, droplets staggering away into the mess of debris Slicer had created.

Believing the worst, Chat felt like his world was falling to pieces around him.

She had protected him this time and now she was….

He choked on his breath, hand clutching his baton hard enough to make his knuckles ache.

He would never get the chance to tell her.

Never get the chance to see her smile again.

He would finally know if he was right but this was never the way he wanted to find out.

Chat Noir choked on a sob and a chill ran down at his spine at the sound of mocking laughter.

Rage filled him and he turned back to the smirking akuma. The man leaned his weight to one side and rested his butcher knife in the palm of one hand, a challenge written in his stance. “One down then, if you’re anything to go by, Chat Noir. I hope there’s enough of her left to retrieve the Miraculous Stone.”

Chat snarled deep in his chest and he shot at the man like a bullet, his baton blurring as it flew through the air. Their weapons collided like cannon fire, both of them jumping back for a moment before diving at one another once again.

Baton flying in his numb hands, Chat fought wildly, his building grief making him sloppy and angry.

He wanted to _hurt_ this person.

With a screech of metal on metal, Chat trapped Slicer against a piece of stone from a building he had destroyed, claws digging into his own hands.

He pressed the baton closer, pushing Slicer’s arms into a position that could easily break both of them if he only wished.

“Chat!” A voice called from behind him, “Chat, stop!!”

His heart stuttered in his chest at that voice, unbidden tears welling up as he faltered. Desperately hoping against what he had previously believed, he looked over his shoulder.

Ladybug stood behind him, pressing one crimson gloved hand to a profusely bleeding wound right next to her hip, multiple other tears in her costume showing where she had barely dodged the other attacks.

“Lady…”

In his distraction, he let up on the baton pinning their foe.

There was a shove and suddenly a white hot pain lanced across his ribcage.

He stumbled back, vaguely aware of Ladybug screaming his name before her yoyo flashed out.

This time the knife was pulled from Slicer’s grasp and he watched as she slammed it at her feet, managing to crack the blade and release the butterfly from where it hid.

A thousand different things ran through his head as he watched her purify the akuma and toss her yoyo into the sky in order to heal the damage done to the city. He breathed a little easier when the magic lessened the damage he had taken from Slicer’s final attack but his thoughts didn’t still.

He had almost lost her.

He had almost _lost_ her and he didn’t think he could ever stand to feel like that again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Ladybug stared at her partner warily, eyes periodically flicking between the wound on his ribs and the absolutely lost look on his face.

It made her heart ache and she itched to comfort him.

But she couldn’t.

Not as Ladybug. No matter how much she wanted to.

When she had seen all those arcs coming at them and his resolute stance, she didn’t think. She simply reacted, much like she had done with Adrien earlier today. She had almost dodged all of the arcs too after she tossed him out of the way but one had flown a bit more to the left than the rest and managed to cut her just above the hickey on her hip.

She had flown out of the danger zone, flipping through the dust in order to circle around behind Slicer and take him by surprise.

Ladybug had not expected Chat’s reaction.

When he yelled her name, it sounded like someone had torn his heart out. She never wanted to hear him sound that way ever again.

Then when he had attacked the akuma…

She had been scared. Chat had never been that angry before and she worried that she might have had to fight her partner along with the akuma of the week.

To say she was shaken was an understatement.

Looking up at her silent partner, she opened her mouth to speak and felt the words die on her tongue when Chat fell upon her, arms curling around her much smaller form like he was afraid she might disappear.

His hands felt huge as they pressed against her back and she found herself returning the embrace with more fervor than she had meant to.

“I’m okay, Chat.” She said at last, her voice cracking as she tried to reassure him.

As if her words broke a spell, his arms squeezed around her, pressing her into his chest like he was trying to shelter her from the whole world. “I thought he killed you.” Her partner whispered into her hair, his breath coming in shuddered sobs, “I thought you were gone. _I thought I lost you_.”

“I’m okay, I promise. I’m just happy that we didn’t get more hurt than this.” She said solemnly, “I knew you were going to try to take that hit for me, kitty.”

“Don’t ever do that again.” He said into her hair petulantly, his grip loosening just slightly, “We need to talk, Ladybug.”

Just like that, the tension between them from earlier made a reappearance and she stiffened in his grasp.

“Talk about what, Chat?”

“I think you know.” He replied, one clawed hand sliding a little too close to the still smarting cut on her side.

She hissed in pain and he recoiled, both hands leaping off her back as his eyes flew to where her costume had been torn.

He glanced at it for a moment before doing a double take and staring, a glimmer of hope lighting up his eyes in place of the utter desolation she had glimpsed earlier.

“Maybe we should get these cuts taken care of first.” He suggested, finally returning his gaze to hers, “I know a place we can go.”

A bit bewildered by his sudden change in subject, Ladybug nodded, allowing her partner to take the lead as they leapt across the newly repaired rooftops.

What on earth did he want to talk about?

Her insides churned with anxiety and she had more than a few close calls with her yoyo as she agonized.

By the time they reached their destination, she had worked herself into a right tizzy and fiddled with her fingers for a moment before she realized where they had landed.

Her terrace.

The _balcony_ of her terrace.

She looked up at her partner in shocked silence, watching as an elated grin slowly grew over his face. “Something tells me that you’ll know exactly where all the first aid stuff is.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She coughed, “Marinette has been kind enough to invite me over before but not enough for me to know where everything is. From what I hear, you’d probably have a better idea of where to go.”

Chat’s grin only grew wider and he stalked towards her, fingers gently pushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “I’d really hate to go through your room without you, _Marinette_. It not something an upstanding cat like myself would do.”

Her heart jumped into her throat at his words and she looked up, floored at the look of absolute adoration that was currently making its home on his face. “When did you figure it out?”

“For sure? Just now.” He whispered into the space between them, “I’ve had my suspicions for a while now.”

Ladybug felt her heart plummet at his words.

Of course.  


If he had thought she was Ladybug, he would most certainly hang around.

Just when she thought someone would have come for _Marinette_.

He must have noticed the expression on her face because one clawed hand came up to gently cup her face. “What’s the matter?”

“So you only spent time with me because you thought I might be Ladybug?” She demanded, a bit surprised at how bitter her voice sounded.

“What? No!” Chat said incredulously, his lovely eyes going wide, “The very first time I came over, maybe, but every other time after that was for you, Marinette. You’ve enchanted me, Princess. I came for your laugh, the way your eyes sparkle in the moonlight. The way you understand me like no other.”

“So the whole making out thing wasn’t exactly a draw for you?”

“I was getting to that part, Princess.” He purred, “I’ve never been happier than I have been in the past few weeks. Even when I only had a tiny suspicion that you were my Lady, I came back to get to know more about my Princess.”

“What even gave me away?” She pouted, a feeling of elation building in her chest at his reassurance.

“I am pretty sure I caught you talking to your kwami after the Primadonna incident at the school.” Chat confessed, absentmindedly stroking the ridge of her cheekbone with his thumb, “And my hickey on your hip. The scratch opened your costume right next to it.”

She gazed at him in confusion, thinking back over her memories of that particular attack and pointedly ignoring the comment about the hickey. “But I was pretty sure that I was alone in the hallway.” She murmured to herself.

“Are you sure? You were telling her how embarrassed you were. Especially after you saved me.”

“Saved you…? I…” She mumbled, replaying everything in her mind.

Saved Chat? No.

She had saved _Adrien_.

Chat had only shown up after she had gotten Adrien to safety. Adrien had also been the only one close to that hallway. She had been sure that he had taken off after letting her out of the supply closet she had accidentally locked herself into.

But they were two different people. The two _different_ boys she liked.

Right?

“Adrien?”

If anything the grin that was stretching his face grew wider and stroked his thumb over her cheekbone once more. “I knew you’d figure it out, my Lady.”

She lurched back from in surprise, driving her hands through her bangs as she began to pace across the top of her terrace in a flurry of realization.

“Oh my god, you’re the same person. I’ve been making out with Adrien Agreste for weeks! And now that I think about it….oh, you’re so similar. And the cat puns! I thought you were just emulating Chat for kicks. But you are Chat and that makes it worse. Oh and I called you a handsome boy! How embarrassing! And that grin! Especially after you saw the hickey. That you put there! How did I not figure this out earlier!?”

She could hear him chuckling softly as she rambled, her hands tugging on her pigtails as she finally turned to face the boy she had fallen in love with, on both sides of the mask.

The boy who had fallen to pieces when he thought she was lost to him.

The boy who had fallen in love with all of her just as she fallen in love with all of him.

Her golden prince and leather clad knight.

He held out a hand to her, his Cheshire grin down to something far more tender as he waited for her realization to sink in.

Ladybug gazed at him, his tranquility calming the mess her mind had made of the situation, stepping forward and taking the hand he had offered.

"I don't know how you're so calm about all of this."

"Me either. Internally I am freaking out so much right now." He murmured, meeting her gaze with his own.

Chat pulled her to him, pressing his free hand to the small of her back as she giggled and bringing their joined hands to his lips.

With a patient sigh, she pulled their hands apart and slid her fingers into his hair. “As sweet as the hand kiss thing is, my lips are right here.”

“As you wish, my Lady.”

She lifted up on her tip toes and met him halfway, pressing their lips together with a gentle tug on his hair. They met again and again, chaste kisses soon devolving into the frenzied mess they typically ended up as.

Her fingers had just begun to drag across the broad expanse of his shoulders when he hissed and stiffened.

She jumped back, hands flying to her mouth as she took in the look of wry amusement on his face. “So that is a probably good way to bring that up but we’re going to have to talk about how sharp your nails are if we wanna make this a permanent thing.”

Ladybug stared at him in confusion, trying to marshal her thoughts after how scattered they had become. “Huh?”

“As much as I adore being your scratching post, particularly when I drive you to it, it’s probably not for the best.” He teased, “But it’s probably a pretty good revenge for the whole hickey thing. I’m sorry about that.”

“What?”

She was really turning up the eloquence tonight.

Grinning at her inarticulate replied, he shook his head and pulled her into her own bedroom before detransforming.

Despite her earlier realization, it was still a bit of a shock to see Adrien grinning at her in the darkness of her bedroom. Flicking on a lamp, she released her own transformation, looking at the scratch on her hip just to check on it.

She absolutely wasn’t avoiding the gaze of the boy in her bedroom.

Not one bit.

Marinette barely suppressed a squeak when he grasped her hand with his, emerald gaze also locked on the area where he wound was. “Are you okay?”

“Yes! The healing charm helped take it down to a manageable level. Are your ribs okay? I know he got you pretty good.”

“My ribs are fine. It’s the scratches on my back that are really giving me trouble.” He pouted, “Will you kiss them better?”

“Where did you get those?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, looking down at the hickey on her hip with a suggestive expression, a heart stopping grin flowing across his face. In an instant, everything he had said earlier came together and she flushed, a pulsing heat suffusing her face. “I-I did that!?”

“Yep. And not a single person who has seen them has let me forget that they’re there.” Adrien chuckled, a blush coming to his face as well, “Like I said, a fitting revenge for the hickey I gave you. I didn’t realize that people could get so nosy about that stuff.”

Marinette opened and closed her mouth with a snap, a bit of her nervousness around Adrien resurfacing as he casually mentioned the souvenirs of their midnight makeouts. But as he winked at her, Chat’s smirk gracing his face, she relaxed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I was going to give you an earful for the hickey thing but I think you’re right. Using you as my scratching post is the perfect response.” She flirted, tapping a finger against her lips in thought, “Although, Alya told me I should probably beat you up for your little mark. Something about marking me up like you had some kind of claim.”

The flush that had started across his face brightened, the tips of his ears turning a mottled crimson. “I am so sorry about that.”

She giggled at his contrition, stepping closer to take his hands. “I think I’ll let it slide this time, kitty. Besides, I’d think you have a bit of a claim now, don’t you?”

He sputtered for a moment before following the tug on his hands over to her. She took a deep breath and looked up at him with determination, borrowing a bit of Ladybug’s courage while she could.

“I love you. All of you. Adrien and Chat.”

Marinette took a deep breath, fully prepared to launch into a speech detailing the exact reasons why she loved the dork in front of her but all that was lost when his lips crashed into hers, the action stealing both her breath and her words.

He kissed her like he was drowning and she was the only thing that could save him, hands stroking over her back like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. When she pulled back for air, he followed after her giving her small kisses between heaving breaths.

“I love you too. Every single part of you. Marinette and Ladybug. My Lady and my Princess.” He breathed against her mouth, punctuating her two titles with searing kisses.

They probably would have continued with their current path of fevered kisses if it had not been for the clearing of a tiny throat.

“If you two are done being gross, Tikki and I are pretty hungry.”

Marinette chuckled when Adrien leaned his forehead against hers, whining at the interruption. “Come on. We’ll have plenty of time for this later.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


The next day at school, Nino peered around the corner at the couple hidden under the shade of the big tree, a triumphant grin stretching his face. He shared a look with Alya as they both spied on Marinette and Adrien cuddled up in the mostly empty courtyard.

“I would say that Operation Adrienette was a success?” Nino said smugly, reaching out with his fist to meet Alya’s waiting one.

“Operation Ladynoir too, if the photos I got last night were anything to go by.” Alya chuckled, gesturing with her phone, “They’re so cute together. I don’t know what I would have done if they had continued to be oblivious idiots. It’s a good thing I spread that rumor about Chat breaking up with Marinette or the girls in our class would have probably done something drastic.”

“I think we were kind of heavy-handed anyway. I’m just happy they have each other.” Nino sighed, “Speaking of which, how long do we let them enjoy this before we tell them we know about the superhero thing?”

“Eh. I’d say we give them a couple of days.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I have a great love for Marichat and especially the reveals that come along with it. So stay tuned!


End file.
